My Top Ten Posts Ever!

Well, I have been at this blogging thing for five years now. What started as a hobby to practice my writing has become more (and sometimes less) of a passion over the years. Writers write to be read. I think it is just part of being human to want to be known. To share our experiences, our joys and frustrations, and find a few people who care enough to share this journey together. To share the love!

As I look back over and reflect on my writing thus far I have realized many things. I have made plenty of mistakes! But that’s how we learn, isn’t it? So I don’t really sweat it. Yes, I’ve learned. Sometimes by losing friends, losing a job, or even losing my church family. Yes, sometimes it can hurt like hell but honestly I am more concerned about the pain I’ve possibly caused you. I am also interested in finding ways to build and restore trust where I may have damaged your trust.

At times I haven’t taken my bit role in your life very seriously. I haven’t hesitated to be a bit controversial at times either. Let’s face it: the Truth is ALWAYS controversial. Besides, without controversy there can be no growth. Controversy is built into progress and true learning can’t happen without it. So yes, I unapologetically write about controversial things I am interested in. There are those rare occasions when something I’ve written really stands out and feels like I struck gold or hit a homerun.

Yes, it definitely sometimes it feels a bit pretentious and even unrealistic in this day in age to think that anyone would care about what I blog about anyway. We have enough distracting us, entertaining us, fighting for our attention that, well, I do realize how insignificant I may be in the grand scheme of things. But gosh darn it I want to play my bit role in this play of life and be the best influence and blessing I can be in your life however small my role in it may be… from now on.

Sometimes I have been in ‘Identity crisis’ over the years. Confusion sets in and I lose my way. Sometimes for a year or more.

‘Who am I and what should I focus on? What are my lines in this play anyway? Have I been cut from the script? Have I added things that were never intended to be in the script? Are my pursuits even legitimate or am I trying to fulfill someone else’s expectations of me?’

Thanks for sticking with me and being a good friend. Here are my best past blogs that I feel will enrich your life:

By the way, God wrote a book. I’d encourage you to give it priority over everything else. I was inspired to read this quote today from John Piper:

“God wrote a book.

That reality blows me away every time I stop to think about it. Pages and pages of God. His thoughts, His words, His heart. Right there, just a few inches away. I can carry it with me wherever I go. Read it whenever I want. Reading the Bible is one of the most important things we can ever do. It’s more valuable than anything we own, sweeter than anything we have ever eaten. It is literally more important than breathing.

But that’s not always what we see and feel when we open the Bible. Our weak, tired, distracted eyes look – and all we see is a lifeless boring portrait on the wall. But it’s not a portrait. It’s a window. It doesn’t hang lifeless in an old frame on the wall. It breaks through the wall into another world. The real world, the lasting world, the better world. And through this window shines a divine light that changes everything around us. We all know that the road to knowing God is not easy.

Discipline and resolve are important, but they can carry you only so far. A few days, week, maybe a month. In the long run, we need something stronger, more compelling than discipline and resolve. There are too many traps along the path, too many hurdles. At the root, the reason we don’t read the Bible is that we don’t want to read the Bible. We don’t see joy, peace and life when we see the leather binding on our shelf. We see a wall, not a window. The boring portrait, not the never-ending beauty beyond. So we put it off, leave it shut, and move on. We stay in bed, and we miss the miracle.

God wrote a book! And with His book, these words in front of us, He wakens our dead, bored souls. He frees us from bondage to sin, from desires that rob us of life. He comforts the depressed, inspires the discouraged, guides the confused. He empowers us to make our lives count for His cause in the world. He satisfies us completely and forever with words – His words.

So, will I read my Bible tomorrow? Where else would I go? How else will I know him? How else will I prepare myself to enjoy Him forever? Yes! I’ll spend the rest of my life looking out this window, watching, waiting for another sight of Him. Another miracle. Another glimpse of my God.” – John Piper